A 19-foot powerboat had just finished gassing up when Charlotte firefighters say a fuel-vapor explosion ignited in the engine compartment inside the boat.

A 19-foot powerboat had just finished gassing up when Charlotte firefighters say a fuel-vapor explosion ignited in the engine compartment inside the boat.

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Updated: 11:38 PM EDT Aug 3, 2014

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WEBVTT THIS REPORT.Lane Kessler PointBay Marina Crew"very muchshocked. Ya knowit's not somethingyou ever expect tohappen on a boat."LANE KESSLERAND TWO OTHERDOCKATTENDANTSWERE WORKINGAT POINT BAYMARINA'S GASDOCK WHEN ABOAT FULL OFFUEL BURST INFLAMES ..."the boat was righthere, like I said thewhole thing, justfuel went up I don'tknow exactly whathappened ..."A NINETEEN FOOTCHRIS CRAFT HADJUST FINISHEDGASING UP WHENFIREFIGHTERSSAY A FUEL-VAPOREXPLOSIONIGNITED IN THEENGINECOMPARTMENT."8 on the boatoriginally 2 of themhad exited the boatbefore theexplosion,thankfully becausethey were the littlekids, most of theexplosion was downlow it wouldn't havebeen a good story ifthey were onboard..."FOUR PEOPLE ONBOARD THE 1946POWERBOATWERE TAKEN TOFLETCHER ALLENWITH MINOR TOMODERATEBURNS. ONEPASSENGER WHOWAS BLOWNOVERBOARDCOULD BE FACINGA POSSIBLEBROKEN LEG.FD CHIEF "fire wasknocked down bythe marina gascrew, they did anexcellent jobknocking it downour crews just hadto overhaul theboat...""we have fireextinguishers upand down thedocks, we definitelywent through acouple today, wehave safety valvesand shut offs,theres one that redbutton that shutsdown everything outthere."AT THE TIME OFTHE FIRE, THEGAS DOCK WASLOADED WITHOTHER BOATS.THE CREW WASTHANKFUL THEYHAD MANAGED TOHANG UP ALL THEHOSES AND SHUTOFF ALL THE GASBEFORE THEEXPLOSIONHAPPENED.Fd CHIEF "in aplace like this, oneboat fire can meanten in a ratherhurry."KESSLER SAYS ITWAS ACOMMUNITYEFFORT."we had otherboaters coming offthe docks sayingwhat do you needand then after thateveryone stayedout of the way andit was very veryhelpful."initially the antiqueboat was moved toa nearby mooringbut since thenmarine workersbelieve it's beentaken out of thewater and deemeda complete loss, incharlotte hm wptznc 5.YOU CAN SEETHE LATEST ONHANNAH'S STORYAND GET THELATEST ONOTHER NEWSANYTIME ON OURWEBSITE WPTZ

Boat bursts into flames inches from gas tanks

A 19-foot powerboat had just finished gassing up when Charlotte firefighters say a fuel-vapor explosion ignited in the engine compartment inside the boat.